Things We Do
by Pastel Ink
Summary: Riku doesn't let things get to him. He never has, and Sora thought he never would. Not off handed comments that he hardly meant or understood the significance of. [no pairings]


**notes;** Oh, I have nothing to say. :D;

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**Things We Do**

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They were prone to holding conversations in the middle of their sparring, no matter how winded they became. Even now, Sora was panting heavily - he'd stumbled off the paopu island only to have Riku climb down after him. Kairi sat on the tree trunk, watching them splash about in the water.

"My shoes are all heavy from the water!" Sora complained, kicking his feet up for emphasis. He stumbled, nearly falling over in his attempt to dodge a jab from Riku. The older boy just smirked at him. Same as always. The second attack, and Sora _did_ fall.

He wasn't exactly sure _what_ his plan had been, exactly, but he chucked his wooden sword at Riku on his way down. It hit him in the face, and between wanting to laugh, curse, and being startled, Riku flailed for a moment before falling down as well.

Sora wasn't embarrassed; he never was. But he _was_ very acutely aware of how loud Kairi was laughing. Riku didn't bother standing, but waved his arms at her, mock-angrily.

"You come down, too!" He demanded. She laughed again, and made her way down the ladder behind the island. When she was in range, Riku splashed the red-head. "You took the easy way down."

She just stuck her tongue out, and instead of splashing him, moved forward slowly, brushing the boy's bangs out of his eyes. "Much better," she said. His hair was wet, and clung to his face in strands, now brushed out of his sea-green eyes.

Riku just blinked. He held up his arm and shielded his eyes from the sun for a moment, then flicked his bangs back. "Too bright..."

"You should cut your hair some time," Sora told him while retrieving their swords. Riku refused to fight with the keyblades anymore. "It's always hanging in your face; can you even see like that?"

_Better than through a blindfold_, the older boy thought, but instead looked down and shook his head. He was relieved when more of the strands fell into his line of sight. Ansem's hair - no, Xehanort's heartless - had always been slicked back. It had never fallen in his eyes, and now, having to look through it reminded him. _Still myself. I'm not like him._

It blocked the light.

Kairi was the one to try and explain to the brunet. "Sora?" She asked, and gingerly seated herself on the sand in shallow water. "Sometimes people's hair is very important to them, and they keep it certain ways... For reasons."

Riku had always kept his hair long. Once he'd hit puberty, he'd begun to fill out - he had nice, toned muscles, and was quite _obviously _male. When he'd been young, he'd been teased for looking like a girl, and even those without ill intent sometimes mistook him for one. Despite that, he'd kept it long, enduring constant teasing from class-mates.

Sora moved to sit next to Kairi, then crossed his arms over his chest. "I know," he said, pouting, "but it bugs me."

Next came Riku, pulling himself into a seat on the girl's other side. He peeled red-hair off Kairi's neck and letting it fall over her shoulder with a wet 'slap'. They shared a smile, but when he looked to Sora, he frowned and said "Sorry, I guess."

The brunet splashed him, getting Kairi more wet than the silver-haired boy. "I'm not _mad_ or anything, I'd just like to be able to see your eyes, y'know?" When Riku didn't answer, Sora leaned over Kairi's lap to push aside the older boy's bangs again. He lost his balance, falling spread out over their legs. But he laughed and rolled over, then pushed himself to be seated sideways between them, looking up at Riku.

"Much better," Kairi repeated, and the second Riku's bangs fell, she pushed them back again.

---

"I'm sorry," were the first words out of Kairi's mouth when she saw Riku the next day. She'd had another conversation to start - had it planned out. She'd seen a show on television the night before, while doing her homework, and one of the characters had reminded her of him.

But Riku walked to his desk in front of hers, sat down, and met her eyes. No barrier. His bangs were still _long_, and still fell in his eyes, but only slightly. They were far shorter than before. It wasn't just his bangs - even the rest of his hair had been cut. And it wasn't _short_, but it wasn't _long_ anymore.

So she apologized.

He shrugged, and his eyes didn't waver from her face.

Sora was late as usual, and his assigned seat was across the room. He'd been so flustered and hurried to do the warm-up activity and start his test that he hadn't even spared a glance in their direction.

Even during lunch break and the walk home, he didn't say anything. The three walked home together, and Kairi made a point of not bringing it up. He _had_ noticed, right? She eyed him suspiciously until they stopped at her gate.

"See you tomorrow," she said, and leaned forward to give Riku a peck on the cheek. Sora looked decidedly sulky, and pointed to himself. She laughed and kissed his forehead before reminding them to do their homework and waving them away.

Still, Sora didn't mention it. They reached his house, and it was half-reflex for Riku to come inside with the brunet. He had never liked going home. Even now, though he guiltily thought _I should want to go home_, he avoided the large house like the plague.

"So," Sora said, finally, and idly offered the older boy a glass of water. Riku shook his head, and Sora didn't continue until they were upstairs, both seated on the brunet's bed. "Why'd you cut your hair?"

Riku ran a hand through it, but the motion was awkward; like he had expected it to last longer. He shook his head slowly. "No reason. It was just bothering me."

Silently, the younger boy turned and wrapped his arms around Riku, petting his hair.

"Sora?"

"Sorry."

There was a long silence, and Riku leaned forward slightly. He reached up to fix his hair, though it wasn't mussed, and pushed away Sora's hands. But the brunet returned to his actions when Riku was done.

It was just hair, after all.


End file.
